A proud moment

 I just recieved an email from Mia's teacher.... Here is a copy of it! But first, here is a little background...

Last year in 1st grade Mianna had a very hard year. She struggled behaviorally, which made her struggle academically. After consulting with a school psychologist, we found out Mianna has significant anxiety and depression... no surprise since Andy and I both struggle with this. Mianna would constantly compare herself to the other kids in her class, which made her feel inadequate, which made her shut down...literally, she shut down. Unfortunately we didn't realize she was dealing with anxiety until the school year was more than half over. We simply thought she was just being difficult refusing to do her work. Everyday was a fight with her... getting her to school, being at school, and dealing with her homework. So with that being said, we decided it would be best for Mianna to repeat first grade.

But this year is like a whole new Mianna! She gets up in the morning, gets herself dressed, does not complain about her shoes, socks, or hair! In fact, Hadley was complaining about her socks and Mianna tells her, "it might feel uncomfortable right now, but don't worry, it goes away, you just have go ignore it." At school, Mianna is doing great as well! (the email below will fill you in about this)  And when Mianna gets home, she has 15 min. of free time, then without a fight, does her homework and it takes her maybe 15 min - 1/2 hour at most! Last year we were doing homework for at least 2 hours with most of it being a struggle! Mianna's confidence has also been better! She is truly like a new child! We are so proud of her! She is doing amazing! She is such a sweet, loving, caring little girl! And now that she is not struggling with school so much, those wonderful personalty traits about her shine like never before! Praise God for her and for helping us through this trial!

Here is an email from her teacher:

Hi Shauna, 

It was great having you at school for GP's Day. It is always a nice remembrance for gp's to have that photo!

Kris asked how Mianna is doing thus far. This is what I wrote her. If you have anything to add I'd love to know. I look forward to your insights at conferences.


Mianna is doing very well! She is completing work well and on time. She is participating. She is getting great grades on first grade work such as spelling, phonics, reading. She is holding her own in math and her handwriting has improved since last year. Her science and SS are okay too!

Emotionally, I have not noted any problems of late. At one point a while ago I could see she was flushed and rigid. I haven't seen that since. She often comes up to give me a hug. I see her smiling. She seems happy. I see her enjoying Angie, especially!

Her behavior is great! She is a bit quiet, but enjoys activities, especially if I act a little silly! :) I see her as a bit of a leader at times, especially in the afternoons when it's just the first grade class. She takes the position of big sister at recess. The other day, she had the option to stay in to help with a project we were doing. She said it would be best if she went outside because she had to take care of her sister.:) I thought that was sweet!

This past week she was the prayer leader in class. She was not reluctant and did a nice job! She is loved by her family and I believe she knows this. She is also loved by us in class, and I feel she knows and loves God!

Hope this gives you a picture of how this year is going for her thus far. I think I could send this to Shauna for her info.

Bath time

Doesn't this look like a fun bath time?! Not sure how you could feel clean though after a bath like this! ;)
Mia got bath crayons and colored fiz tablets for the bath water! And the kids decorated our bathtub!

 

 

Happy 8th birthday Mia

Mia is now 8!



 Making her own birthday brownies

And frosting them....

 

She got her very own MP3 player! She LOVES music! Now she can worship the Lord on her own! 

Carving pumpkins

 

 

Jumping country

Eli enjoyed jumping too

 

While we were at Jumping Country, my brother showed up with his 4 girls! What a treat!

Dairy Queen - her favorite place

 

 

Eli started cereal

Eli started cereal one wk ago and he just loves it! I can't beleive he is old enough already to be eating solids! Makes me so sad how fast he is growing up :(
In one wk his cheeks have puffed out more and his rolls have doubled! :) Healthy little boy!
Next we'll be trying out some veggies!

 

 

This little light of mine

This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

 

 

 

 

Life lately has just been rather hard.

But when I woke up this morning, I saw God's light.  It was beautiful! The sky is one of God's creations that give me butterflies in my tummy because it is truly HIS without any changes made from mankind!

Thank you God for shining your light on me! You know right now I need it! I love you too!

chocolate chip banana muffins

3 very ripe bananas = baking chocolate chip banana bread with Grady!

Helping mama in the kitchen may seem like a little girl thing to do, but my little Grady LOVES to bake! Just about every morning he wakes up wanting to make pancakes. His job is to put the pancake batter onto the pan. Makes for some really funny looking pancakes, but he does a great job! ;) Today we made chocolate chip banana bread and Muffins! The kids like the muffins and mama likes the bread! But we should just pretend we didn't make the bread  today because it's already gone! :O I already ate it all!    Eli is going through a growth spurt! ;)    So yummy in the tummy!

Let the blogging begin....

Back to blogging. ....

It's been quite awhile since I've blogged! Life has been so busy that I just haven't had time to do it anymore! But the good news is, I'd like to start again!!! The kids are growing up so fast and we have so many relatives and friends that live far away, which means so many milestones missed by them! I will do my best to keep up with sharing our lives to those who want to keep up with us!

BUT with that being said, I will not email every time I post something as I used to. This will be my last email.... So, IF you want emails every time I post, there is a box on our blog under our family picture that says, "FOLLOW BY EMAIL," put your email in there and every time I post, an email will automatically be sent to you through blogger. You will get an email from FeedBurner Email Subscriptions (noreply+feedproxy@google.com) to confirm your subscription. When you do, just click the link and it's confirmed. You might have to check your junk mail at first to make sure the emails are not being sent there OR put FeedBurner Email Subscriptions (noreply+feedproxy@google.com)  in your contact list so the emails are not sent to your junk mail.

And thats it! Feel free to leave comments once in awhile so I know there is reason to keep blogging! :D

Waiting for Hadley to get home from school

It's nearly 12 noon and Hadley should be home any minute from school. Eli sits patiently waiting for her! He just loves his sisters attention!

It was well worth the wait!!!!!